My dad had proven himself to be—well, exactly who my dad was.
Again.
And of course, I got caught up in his crap.
Again.
So, no.
I did not believe it when Stefan said that everything was going to be all right.Because it wasn't going to be.
Still—Stefan had stepped up and agreed to marry me in order to save my behind.And Eve and Giselle had gone all out to get me ready.Good grief, Giselle even let me wear her wedding dress.And the men even put on tuxes for goodness sake.The least I could do was hold my tongue and go along with everything.The very least I could do.
So, instead of arguing with Stefan about how my—next—downfall was imminent—I gave him a small smile and lied, “Okay.”
And then a small vestige of the man I once knew showed itself in his smirk.
Strong or weak.
In pain or not.
Stefan's smirk was the same.And that made my lower belly feel weird.
A good weird, though.
It reminded me of lying in bed with him.His hands on me.And—
“I hate to ask this—” Giselle's voice yelled from the patio doors.“But would it be okay if I left Nicco with you?Marcello just projectile vomited all over Nick.So, he's got to change.Nick, and Marcello, I mean.Actually,” she looked back into the house for a moment, “Nick needs a shower.And so does Marcello.Carlo and I are trying to clean up.And I've only got two arms—”
Stefan immediately let go of my hands and left me standing at the arch by myself.He quickly strode up to Eve and the baby.I heard her say an emotional, “Thank you,” right before she turned and hurried back to the waiting chaos in the house.
“You get to hang out with us for a while,” he said to the baby in his arms.
And I was wrong.
Nick looked hot carrying a baby.
Carlo, too.
But Stefan was freaking—smoldering with a baby in his arms.
“Did your brother barf all over your uncle Nick?Hmm?”he chuckled and rubbed the baby's back.He walked around the pool, all the while speaking softly and lovingly to his nephew.
Again—I'd never seen anything hotter in my life.When he arrived back at my side with the baby, he said, “Nicco, say hi to your auntie Francesca.”Then he gently lifted one of the baby's hands and waved it at me.The baby giggled, and I laughed.
“Hello,” I said, and touched his chubby little hand.I wanted to correct Stefan and tell him that I wasn't really the baby's auntie.But something inside me knew that would bother Stefan.And that would be kind of crappy of me considering all he and his family were doing for me.So, I shut up and talked to the baby.
Ari seemed to like me well enough.After a few minutes, he held his arms out to me.I took him as he practically dove.Exactly one second later, he tugged on my veil.“Whoops.”I touched his hand and said, “Gentle.Be very careful.Your mommy still has to wear this after me.We can't go giving this back to her all muddled up now.Can we?”
Amazingly enough, he gazed at me with a rather slobbery grin and stopped his pulling.
“See?Nice.”I let him touch the soft fabric.It gave me a moment to hug him and kiss his sweet face.“Gosh, he's so soft and yummy.”I inhaled deeply and held him close.He really felt—good.
And right.
Like everything in the world suddenly made sense.
“You must've looked after many babies at the hospital,” Stefan stated.
